Sustainable Water Solutions

The Engineering for Development program has been conducting research on improved mountain-spring protection in the Dominican Republic, in order to improve access to clean water to the communities, and investigating the effectiveness of improvements to manual pumps in improving livelihoods and health in developing communities.

The team of faculty and students is researching adding a duckbill valve to a suction pump in order to improve the pumping efficiency of the pitcher pump. This research could not only increase the speed and quantity of water being pumped out, but also increase the depth from which the water can be pumped.

Mercer’s research and service in El Cercado currently focuses on improvements to spring and groundwater protection, gravity flow system infrastructure, and cooking practices.

Since early-2017, research and assessments have been conducted by Mercer University in El Cercado, Dominican Republic, to understand the current conditions of community spring-fed piped water supply systems (primarily gravity flow systems) and groundwater resources (springs)

Additionally, Mercer has worked with local communities on expansion of community piped water systems, helping with labor and providing partial funding to construct three stone masonry water storage tanks and install piping to communities.

Some of the community-level water distribution systems in the El Cercado area are insufficient. There are only a few homes (less than 3% of those surveyed) that receive in-home access to water (i.e. tap water into the home faucets). During the rainy season in El Cercado flooding occurs in some areas. Sometimes, this causes the main water distribution system to experience pipe and connection failures (e.g. due to road and pipe washouts).

A possible solution to this issue is rainwater harvesting (as a primary or secondary water source), channeling rain that falls onto rooftops into storage tanks.

As Mercer’s research and service work in the Dominican Republic continues to advance, further opportunities will develop for student learning in the field and back on campus. With time, it is planned for the real-world engineering examples currently taught in engineering for development and groundwater courses to be incorporated into more classes within Mercer University’s School of Engineering, as appropriate.

Through a partnership with Mercer On Mission in Kenya, engineering students and faculty traveled to a small community several hundred miles away from the water grid. Women and children were hiking hours to fill their buckets with contaminated water. Engineers studied the kinetic energy in a local waterfall and were able to pump water into the community. Using a sand filter, they could then filter the contaminant out of the water.

Not only did this have an impact on the health of families in the community, but also had an economic impact, specifically for the women and children. Young girls could now attend school and receive an education, because they didn’t have to use their time traveling to get water. Women could use skills to help in the home and were able to better provide for their families.

Research projects for a Mercer On Mission trip to Madagascar focused on rainwater harvesting and reducing lead (Pb) contamination in household groundwater supply systems. The students and faculty on this trip also used social marketing techniques to better understand why pump manufacturers were using lead parts in their pumps and convincing them to use iron components instead.

The groundwater that was being pumped with lead parts was being contaminated with lead, resulting in negative health effects for families and children. This program also investigated the use of rainwater harvesting in the area.

In Uganda, Mercer On Mission and Mercer’s School of Engineering worked alongside other departments to drill wells and pump water into communities without access to clean, safe water. Manual well drilling has been another aspect of these projects.

One way to partner with international communities is to offer portable water testing. This is something we do at many of our Mercer On Mission trips and we are able to determine what contaminants might be in the water and how they could negatively affect the members of the community.